English Translation--NOTE: This translation uses an alternate word “Wärter”

(“guardian”)

instead of “Gärtner” (“gardner”) in the last line.

0:00 [m. 1]--Stanza (strophe) 1. This is the only song in the set not to begin on

an upbeat. The first two lines are sung to a simple, arching minor-key melody that

ends on a bare fifth. The basses lag a bit behind in the second line. In the
third

and fourth lines, the melody speeds up, and the men sing a beat behind the women

until the end of the word “Engel,” where the sopranos and especially the altos have

a longer melisma (group of notes on a single syllable). The melisma swells and
recedes,

and the cadence remains firmly in minor. The unusual declamation is notable,
especially

the stress on the last syllable of “Maria.”

0:30 [m. 1]--Stanza (strophe) 2. The downbeat beginning was unique to stanza 1,

as the other two stanzas do begin with an upbeat. The two syllables “Den da” are

sung to the notes used for the three-syllable “Maria.” The “following” tenors and

basses in lines three and four shift the text forward a bit by lengthening “von.”

This is in consideration of the accentuation of “den du,” where the text catches

up. The word “wolltest” is set to the same notes as the three-syllable “wohlgetan”

in stanza 1.
1:00 [m. 1]--Stanza (strophe) 3. The address “Maria!” is set off in this
performance.

“Da erkennt sie” is set as was “Den da suchet” in stanza 2. The word “Heiland”

is notably stretched out, being sung to notes previously used for four syllables

of text. In lines 3 and 4, the sopranos and altos sing “er ein Gärtner” to notes

previously used only for “Engel” and “salben.” The tenors and basses compensate

by singing new syllables (in “Gebärde” and “er ein”--which matches stanza 2’s “den

du”) on previously slurred notes so that “Gärtner” is set in the same way as were

“Engel“ and “salben.” The final word “wäre” is set as was “wolltest” in stanza 2.

1:38--END OF SONG [8 mm. (x3)]

7. Marias Lob (Mary’s Praise). Folksong text. Allegro. Simple strophic form.
E-FLAT MAJOR, 4/4 and 3/4 time.

German Text:
Maria, wahre Himmelsfreud’,
der Welt Ergötzlichkeit!
Wer wollt’ dich nicht lieben?
Du stehst mir geschrieben,
ja bist mir gegraben
mit tiefen Buchstaben
in meinem Herzelein!

Wie schmelzet ein Karfunkelstein

im Lorbeerkränzelein,
so geht es mir eben,
mein’ Seel’ und mein Leben
vor Lieb’ sich zertrennen
und in sich verbrennen
bei deinem Nennen!

Der ganzen Schöpfung reiche Zier

vergleicht sich nicht mit dir.
Es dürfen die Blumen
ihr’ Schönheit nicht rühmen,
sie müssen sich schämen,
du tuest benehmen
all’ ihre Zierlichkeit.

Des Himmels Sternenangesicht

und aller Sonnen Licht,
samt Edelgesteinen,
sie dürfen nicht scheinen,
die Perlen, Korallen,
Gold, Silber, sie fallen
vor dir in Finsternis.

Maria, o mein’ höchste Freud’,

die Welt ist mir verleidt,
ich suche zu sterben;
du woll’st mir erwerben
nur Gottes Gnaden,
auf höheren Pfaden
so scheid’ ich fröhlich hin.

English Translation

0:00 [m. 1]--Stanza (strophe) 1, lines 1-2. The first two lines of all five
stanzas

are sung in 4/4 time. The last note of line 2 becomes the beginning of a 3/4 bar,

where the rest of the stanza will be set. The purely harmonized melody is strong

and assertive. The sopranos leap down on the fifth syllable of line 1 and the
second

syllable of line 2.
0:12 [m. 5]--Stanza 1, lines 3-7. The remaining lines are set in 3/4 meter. The

sopranos gradually rise to the high point at line 5, where they descend. The
basses

are absent for lines 3 and 4. Lines 5 and 6 move briefly to A-flat major and F
minor.

All parts soar on “meinem.” The altos and tenors sing “Herzelein” faster than the

sopranos and basses, and trail with a repetition of “meinem Herzelein” as the
sopranos

and basses hold their final notes. The sopranos drop out before the other parts.

0:36 [m. 1]--Stanza (strophe) 2. The declamation is as in stanza 1 until the very

end, where the last line is a syllable shorter. The sopranos and basses merely
stretch

out the last word, while the altos and tenors repeat the same number of syllables

(the entire line, beginning a beat earlier), also stretching out “Nennen.”
1:07 [m. 1]--Stanza (strophe) 3. The declamation is as in stanza 1. “Ihre
Zierlichkeit”

is treated as was “meinem Herzelein” in stanza 1.

1:39 [m. 1]--Stanza (strophe) 4. The declamation is as before except for the
trailing

alto/tenor repetition at the end. There, they repeat an extra syllable (the entire

line, but not a beat earlier), placing a new syllable on the soaring note, the only

stanza in which this happens.

2:11 [m. 1]--Stanza (strophe) 5. Brahms indicates that (only) this stanza is to

begin very quietly, gradually building in volume to the high point at line 5. At

line 5, which has one fewer syllable than the other stanzas, the first syllable

of “Gottes” is stretched out. The alto/tenor repetition is treated differently.

For the only time, the entire line is not stated before the repetition begins.

In the first statement, “hin” is cut off, and then the entire line is stated in the

repetition (beginning a beat earlier, as in stanza 2). Because “hin” was cut off

before, the remainder of the repetition can be declaimed as in stanzas 1 and 3

rather

than as in stanza 4.
2:57--END OF SONG [18 mm. (x5)]
END OF SET

VARIATIONS AND FUGUE ON A THEME OF G. F. HANDEL FOR PIANO, OP. 24

Recording: Martin Jones, pianist [NI 1788]
Published 1862.
With due respect to the F-minor piano sonata, this monumental work is the most
important

masterpiece of Brahms’s large-scale solo piano compositions (all of which were

written

and published before 1866). Reaching beyond the composer’s own output, it stands

firmly alongside Bach’s “Goldberg” Variations and Beethoven’s “Diabelli”

Variations--three

huge sets of keyboard variations by each of the “three B’s.” The Brahms work does

owe much to its predecessors, although it is slightly more modest than either, with

25 variations as opposed to Bach’s 30 or Beethoven’s 33. The closing fugue is also

based on an idea used by Beethoven. The theme used is an Air from one of Handel’s

harpsichord suites (Suite in B-flat major, HWV 434), to which Handel himself had

attached five variations. Brahms proceeds to filter the methods of Bach and
Beethoven

through his late romantic lens. The theme’s simple structure and harmony allowed

him much freedom, although he stuck firmly to the original’s structure (with one

exception, Variation 15), key (again with one exception, Variation 21), and meter

(replacing 4/4 with 12/8--the triple-division version of quadruple meter--in three

instances). Brahms also largely retains the pattern of “contrasting” and

“returning”

bars in the second parts of each variation. He does engage in a certain level of

harmonic freedom, and in several instances writes varied repeats within individual

variations. Certain variations are quite singular, such as the siciliana in No.

19 or the “music box” effect in No. 22. Others, such as the weighty minor-key
“Hungarian”

No. 13 and its sequel, the breathtaking No. 14, are clear points of demarcation.

Some variations are grouped in obvious pairs (Nos. 5-6, 7-8, 11-12, 15-16, 17-18,

and 23-24) with some of these having the effect of “variations of variations.” A

highly successful adaptation of the baroque keyboard fugue to the modern piano and

its capabilities, Brahms’s concluding fugue sticks to its four-voice texture for

long stretches and then gloriously breaks free of it at the most effective points.

He manages all of this while adhering somewhat more closely (at least in
character)
to a Bach-like structural model than did Beethoven in his fugues for both the
“Diabellis”

and the “Hammerklavier” Sonata. The final buildup over the massive “pedal point”

bell tones provides an appropriately exciting conclusion, and it is apparent that

something as large as the fugue was necessary to give the variations a capstone
that

did them justice. Despite their great difficulty, the “Handel” Variations are
never

an overt display of virtuoso pianism such as that seen in the last solo piano
variations,

the “Paganini” sets of Op. 35. Instead, they triumphantly show (as even Wagner
noted)

what can be done with old and strict forms in capable hands.

In keeping with the baroque model, Brahms avoids tempo headings throughout the
score

(although there are many markings of expression and character, most of which are

noted). Since all the variations except Variation 21 are in B-flat, only changes

of mode from major to minor will be noted. Only Variations 19, 23, and 24 are not

in common time (4/4), and they are all in 12/8 time (the “compound” version of
4/4).

IMSLP WORK PAGE

ONLINE SCORE FROM IMSLP (First Edition from Brahms-Institut Lübeck)
ONLINE SCORE FROM IMSLP (First Edition [monochrome] from Russian State Library)
ONLINE SCORE FROM IMSLP (From Breitkopf & Härtel Sämtliche Werke)
ONLINE SCORE FROM IMSLP of Handel’s Suite in B-flat major, HWV 434, the source of

the variation theme (G. F. Händels Werke, edited by Friedrich Chrysander)

ONLINE SCORE FROM IMSLP of Handel's Suite in B-flat major, HWV 434 (from a later

Russian source)

NOTE: In this recording, Variations 16-25 are on a new CD track/file. The fugue,

which also has its own track/file, will be treated as a (partially) separate unit

with its own measure numbers.

0:00 [m. 1]--ARIA. B-FLAT MAJOR, 4/4 time. Part 1. The theme is symmetrical and

balanced. The first part is decorated with trills on the second beat of each bar.

The left hand chords are subordinate to the florid right hand line. The phrase

reaches a half-cadence, punctuated by another trill. A rapid scale flourish with

an internal repeated note leads to the repetition. There are no dynamic or tempo

markings.
0:17 [m. 1]--Part 1 repeated. The scale flourish leads to the second part.
0:31 [m. 5]--Part 2. The first two bars are the “contrasting” material, but they

retain the same basic rhythmic pattern as the rest of the theme. The first bar of

Part 2 is the only measure in the theme that does not contain a trill on the second

beat. The remaining two bars make a return to the material from the first two bars

of Part 1. They come to a full, closed cadence. A downward-arching flourish that

contains a trill helps move the harmony back to the “dominant” for the repeat.
0:46 [m. 5]--Part 2 repeated. The flourish is replaced by a sweeping lead-in to

Variation 1.
1:00 [m. 9]--VARIATION 1. Part 1. Brahms now indicates volume level with poco
forte.

The variation is sturdy and rhythmic, with faster notes passed from the right
hand

on the strong parts of beats to the left hand on the weaker parts. This pattern

is only really broken on the last beats of each bar. The leaping, jaunty left hand

notes coincide with syncopated and accented right-hand chords. A scale rapidly
sweeps

up and back down after the half-cadence to lead to the repetition.

1:15 [m. 9]--Part 1 repeated. The sweeping scale is shortened by one note as it

leads into Part 2.

1:28 [m. 13]--Part 2. The basic pattern continues, but the “contrasting” bars
contain

a very close right-hand counterpoint that sounds like a series of chords. It is

interrupted by a rapid descending scale. Again, the ending returns to the pattern

used at the beginning, but is also broken by a descending scale. Another variant

of the sweeping scale (without its previously highest note) leads to the
repetition.

1:42 [m. 13]--Part 2 repeated, coming to a solid, complete cadence. There is no

transition to Variation 2.
1:57 [m. 17]--VARIATION 2. Part 1. Although Brahms adds the marking animato, the

variation is quieter than Variation 1, with gentle rising and falling. One notable

feature is the three-against-two rhythm, with the right hand triplets going against

the straight rhythm in the left hand. The left hand does include three triplets
(two on the last beats of the first and third bars, one on the second beat of the

second) in its upper voice. Both hands are harmonized with a lower voice. Both

hands are extremely chromatic, with many half-steps and “color” notes from outside

the scale of B-flat.

2:08 [m. 17]--Part 1 repeated. The lead-in to Part 2 is essentially identical to

the one before the repeat.

2:19 [m. 21]--Part 2. The “contrasting” bars begin with a punctuating short trill

and make a slight turn to minor. In these bars, the left hand loses its second
voice.

It is regained in the “returning” bars. The left hand has no triplets in Part 2,

and it has wider, more far-ranging leaps. The music is still very chromatic, which

is particularly seen in the left hand line in the “returning“ bars. In the
“returning”

bars, the right hand continues up higher than expected, ending with a graceful
downward

turn that flows into the repetition.

2:29 [m. 21]--Part 2 repeated. The “graceful” downward turn also serves to lead

into Variation 3.
2:40 [m. 25]--VARIATION 3. Part 1. This variation, marked dolce, continues the

gracefulness of the lead-in. “Sighing” gestures are passed between the right and

left hands. These usually consist of an upbeat, then a motion from a single note

to a chord, usually descending, but not always. Some of the upbeats in the right

hand are rolled chords. The left hand leaps up from its upbeats to its “sighing”

motions.
2:50 [m. 25]--Part 1 repeated. The final upbeat now leads into Part 2.
3:00 [m. 29]--Part 2. The pattern continues in the “contrasting” bars, although

they are more chromatic, making another slight turn to minor. It also continues

as a bridge to the repeat without coming to a stop.

3:11 [m. 29]--Part 2 repeated. This time, the final upward left-hand leap suddenly

stops as the freely flowing, metrically ambiguous Variation 3 comes to a close.

3:24 [m. 33]--VARIATION 4. Part 1. In a great contrast to the preceding
variation,

this one comes in with force on an upbeat. It is marked risoluto. The right hand

plays powerful octaves, many of them filled in with harmonies to make full chords.

The left hand plays more isolated, punctuating chords and octaves. There are
powerful
accents on some (but not all) of the weakest upbeats, creating a strong sense of

metrical displacement. The right hand reaches quite high before a precipitous
descent

to the half-cadence.
3:36 [m. 33]--Part 1 repeated.
3:47 [m. 37]--Part 2. Now the pattern changes a bit, with the right and left hands

alternating on strong octave ascents on another minor turn. Both hands come to
brief

pauses as they pass ascents between each other. This breaks after one bar, after

which the left hand takes the continuous octaves and the right hand plays leaping

descents. The powerful accents on weak upbeats continue, and they increase in
frequency

as the “returning“ bars approach, as well as during the final descent. The last

cadence is quite emphatic.

3:59 [m. 37]--Part 2 repeated.
4:14 [m. 41]--VARIATION 5. B-FLAT MINOR. Part 1. The first minor-key variation

is expressive and flowing. It begins with an upbeat. The left hand begins after

the first downbeat. A long-short-short figure begins to take over the rhythm.
Harmonies

are strategically placed in the right hand. The left hand has a faster-moving line

that includes some syncopations at the tops of arpeggios. The left hand rounds off

the half-cadence with a wide upward arpeggio.

4:29 [m. 41]--Part 1 repeated.
4:44 [m. 45]--Part 2. The “contrasting” bars are again more chromatic, which is

quite striking in the minor key. The opening is similar to that of Part 1, but the

left hand is more disjointed and both hands reach much higher. The first
syncopation

in the right hand happens at the approach to the “returning” bars, and it is quite

effective. The familiar syncopations in the left hand begin shortly thereafter.

The right hand has two more syncopations in the melody during the approach to the

melancholy cadence, which remains in minor.

4:58 [m. 45]--Part 2 repeated.
5:14 [m. 49]--VARIATION 6. B-FLAT MINOR. Part 1. This variation should be seen

as forming a pair with Variation 5. Ideally, there will be no break between them.

Variation 6 is a pure canon, with the left hand strictly imitating the right hand

one beat later. Both hands play in bare octaves. The bottom note in the left hand
is three octaves below the higher note in the right. The material itself is
clearly

based on the opening gesture of Variation 5. The octaves are smooth and quiet.

At the half-cadence ending Part 1, the canon does not break, and is completed by

lengthening and reiterating the final octave in the right hand.

5:29 [m. 49]--Part 1 repeated. The reiterated right hand octave becomes the upbeat

of the repetition.
5:43 [m. 53]--Part 2. Now the last note of the trailing left hand becomes the
upbeat

for the new canon in Part 2. With the left hand now leading and the right hand
following,

Brahms throws in another twist and makes the “contrasting” bars of Part 2 a canon

by inversion, where the trailing voice in the right hand turns the leading left-
hand

voice upside down. Because of the opposite directions, the top note in the right

hand is now four (rather than three) octaves above the bottom note of the left.

It reaches to quite a high level.

5:50 [m. 55]--At the “returning” bars, the inversion ends. The right hand rests

for one beat. The left hand notes that immediately precede this are not imitated,

and are used so that the bass can slide down to the first note of m. 55, which
begins

another “normal” canon as heard in Part 1. The right hand makes a large leap from

the high last notes of the inversion canon to the first, much lower notes of this

one. This time, the canon is not completed. The last three notes of the left hand

and the last note of the right are independent of the imitation. The last two
notes

(in both hands) even add full chords to the octaves at the final cadence.
5:58 [m. 53]--Part 2 repeated, beginning with the canon by inversion.
6:05 [m. 55]--The repetition continues with the final canon and harmonized cadence

in the “returning” bars.

6:15 [m. 57]--VARIATION 7. B-FLAT MAJOR. Part 1. In a sudden departure from the

light melancholy mood of the previous two variations, this one rushes in with
secretive

haste. Brahms marks it con vivacità. It is extremely rhythmic (long-short-short),

with three parallel voices. The melodic interest is in the middle voice. The top

voice remains static, remaining on a single note (F twice, then A) for all but the
last half-beat of the first three bars. The last bar suddenly increases in volume,

and the top voice works upward, only to plunge down in an arpeggio before the
repeat.

The active bottom voice provides solid bass support.

6:24 [m. 57]--Part 1 repeated.
6:32 [m. 61]--Part 2. In the “contrasting” bars, which are again quiet, the top

voice only becomes slightly more active, moving halfway through the bar. The final

off-beats of these first two measures are given strong accents, stronger than was

the case in Part 1. The “returning” bars increase greatly in volume, and a fourth

voice is added to the harmonies. The voices, including the top voice, diverge
apart

after moving up together. The top voices reach quite high, the bottom voice very

low. The climax is followed by another plunging arpeggio, with the bottom voice

rocketing upward at the same time (as it also had done in Part 1).
6:41 [m. 61]--Part 2 repeated, running directly into Variation 8.
6:50 [m. 65]--VARIATION 8. Part 1. This louder variation follows directly upon

Variation 7, with which it has similarities. This time, the static voice is the

bottom one, which thumps out the keynote B-flat on the long-short-short rhythm
steadily

until the half-cadence, where it briefly moves to F. Above this, the right hand

has two voices, the middle one in steady running notes and the top one in shorter

two-note gestures broken by rests. It joins the rapid running of the middle voice

at the end of the second bar. In the third and fourth bars, these right hand
voices

are reversed, so that the “running” notes are on the top of the texture. The
shorter

gestures remain in the same range, so the “running” notes are now in a very high

register.
6:58 [m. 65]--Part 1 repeated.
7:07 [m. 69]--Part 2. In the “contrasting” bars, the steady “thumping” bass note

is on F. The “running” notes are again in the middle voice. The top voice, with

shorter gestures, remains in the same range. This layout is maintained in the
“returning”

bars, but the “thumping” bass note moves back to the keynote B-flat (more a “tenor”

than a bass note). The contrasting bars are suddenly and unexpectedly soft, again
turning briefly to minor (a turn notably avoided in Variation 7) while the
“returning”

bars are again intensified.

7:16 [m. 73]--Part 2, varied repeat. In the first varied repeat of the work, the

musical material is the same as in the first statement of Part 2, but the voicing

is reversed. In the “contrasting” bars, for the first time, the voice with the
shorter

gestures moves while the “running” notes remain where they were. This places the

shorter gestures below the “running” notes, as at the end of Part 1. This time,

however, the “running” notes are actually lower. In the “returning” bars, the
short

gestures are placed back where they were in the first statement, and the “running”

notes are moved above them in a high register--so the layout is the same, but the

register is higher. The varied repeat of Part 2 begins quietly and, unlike the
first

statement, remains soft and even becomes quieter at the very end, where the
“running”

notes have reached quite high indeed. Even the “thumping” B-flat steadily moves

up first one octave, then a second before rapidly plunging back down.
7:28 [m. 77]--VARIATION 9. Part 1. Variation 9 is based on the restatement of a

simple idea at various pitch levels. It is slower and heavier than variations 7-8,

and marked poco sostenuto. The idea is a downward half-step motion (a chromatic

scale) in right-hand octaves that is decorated twice by triplets whose middle notes

break the chromatic scale with leaps up a third. The descent is heralded by a
fanfare-like

upbeat. Against this, the left-hand octaves, anchored by a low note, move slowly

up four scale steps, then more quickly down five half-steps. This is all followed

by a final quiet chord. The first two bars state the pattern beginning on the
keynote,

B-flat, and end by rising a step to a dissonant “diminished” chord.

7:36 [m. 79]--The third and fourth bars state the idea a third higher, starting on

D, then end by sliding down to the expected half-cadence on F. This time, all of

the right-hand octaves except for those in the first triplet (and the leaping
second

note of the second triplet) are filled in with full chords.

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